The origin of the University for the Creative Arts lies in the establishment of various small art schools in the English counties of Kent and Surrey in the nineteenth century. In Kent the first of these was Maidstone College of Art, founded in 1867, and in Surrey the Guildford School of Art, founded in 1856. During the second half of the twentieth century many of these small art schools merged, eventually forming Kent Institute of Art & Design in 1987, and Surrey Institute of Art & Design in 1995. These two organisations joined forces in 2005 to become the University College for the Creative Arts at Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham, Maidstone and Rochester. In May 2008 the University College for Creative Arts was granted full university status by the Privy Council, and adopted its current name, the University for the Creative Arts, officially in September 2008.[6]

The University for the Creative Arts announced in February 2011 that it was discussing designating part of its Maidstone campus for use by MidKent College.[9] Further to this, MidKent College expressed its willingness to buy the Maidstone campus from 2012 and phase out the UCA presence at the campus by 2014.[10]

2005 - Kent Institute of Art & Design and Surrey Institute of Art & Design, University College merge to form University College for the Creative Arts at Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham, Maidstone & Rochester [22][23]

2008 - University College for the Creative Arts at Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham, Maidstone & Rochester receives University Title from the Privy Council and is renamed University for the Creative Arts [24]

It has five research centres: Centre for Digital Scholarship, Centre for Sustainable Design, Crafts Study Centre, Fine Art & Photography Research Centre, and International Textile Research Centre.[33][34]

1.
Public university
–
A public university is a university that is predominantly funded by public means through a national or subnational government, as opposed to private universities. Whether a national university is considered public varies from one country to another, in Egypt, Al-Azhar University opened in 975 AD as the second oldest university in the world. In Nigeria Public Universities can be established by both the Federal Government and by State Governments, students are enrolled after completing the 8-4-4 system of education and attaining a mark of C+ or above. They are also eligible for a low interest loan from the Higher Education Loan Board and they are expected to pay back the loan after completing higher education. South Africa has 23 public tertiary institutions, either categorised as a traditional university or a comprehensive university. Almost entire national universities in Brunei are public universities and these are major universities in Brunei, University of Brunei Darussalam Brunei Technological University Sultan Sharif Ali Islamic University There are 40 public universities in Bangladesh. The University Grant Commission is the body for all the public universities in Bangladesh. The universities do not deal directly with the government, but with the University Grants Commission, recently many private universities are established under the Private University Act of 1992. In mainland China, nearly all universities and research institutions are public and currently, the public universities are usually run by the provincial governments, there are also circumstances where the municipal governments administer the universities. Some public universities are national, which are administered by the central government. Private undergraduate colleges do exist, which are vocational colleges sponsored by private enterprises. The majority of universities are not entitled to award bachelors degrees. Public universities usually enjoy higher reputation domestically, eight institutions are funded by the University Grants Committee. The Academy for Performing Arts also receives funding from the government, the Open University of Hong Kong is also a public university, but it is largely self-financed. The Shue Yan University is the private institution with the status of a university. There are public and private institutes in Indonesia. The government provide public universities, institutes, high schools and academies in each province, the private educational institution usually provided by religious organizations, public organizations, and some big companies. In India, most universities and nearly all research institutions are public, There are some private undergraduate colleges, mostly engineering schools, but a majority of these are affiliated to public universities

2.
Canterbury
–
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, a journey of pilgrims to Beckets shrine served as the frame for Geoffrey Chaucers 14th century classic The Canterbury Tales. Canterbury is a popular tourist destination, consistently one of the cities in the United Kingdom. The city has been occupied since Paleolithic times and served as the capital of the Celtic Cantiaci, modern additions include the Marlowe Theatre and the St Lawrence Ground, home of the Kent County Cricket Club. Canterbury remains, however, a city in terms of geographical size and population. In Sub-Roman Britain, it was known in Old Welsh as Cair Ceint, occupied by the Jutes, it became known in Old English as Cantwareburh, which developed into its present name. The Canterbury area has been inhabited since prehistoric times, lower Paleolithic axes, and Neolithic and Bronze Age pots have been found in the area. Canterbury was first recorded as the settlement of the Celtic tribe of the Cantiaci. In the 1st century AD, the Romans captured the settlement, the Romans rebuilt the city, with new streets in a grid pattern, a theatre, a temple, a forum, and public baths. In the late 3rd century, to defend against attack from barbarians, the Romans built an earth bank around the city and a wall with seven gates, which enclosed an area of 130 acres. Over the next 100 years, an Anglo-Saxon community formed within the city walls, as Jutish refugees arrived, in 597, Pope Gregory the Great sent Augustine to convert its King Æthelberht to Christianity. After the conversion, Canterbury, being a Roman town, was chosen by Augustine as the centre for his see in Kent. Augustine thus became the first Archbishop of Canterbury, the towns new importance led to its revival, and trades developed in pottery, textiles, and leather. By 630, gold coins were being struck at the Canterbury mint, in 672, the Synod of Hertford gave the see of Canterbury authority over the entire English Church. In 842 and 851, Canterbury suffered great loss of life during Danish raids, in 978, Archbishop Dunstan refounded the abbey built by Augustine, and named it St Augustines Abbey. A second wave of Danish attacks began in 991, and in 1011 the cathedral was burnt, remembering the destruction caused by the Danes, the inhabitants of Canterbury did not resist William the Conquerors invasion in 1066. William immediately ordered a wooden motte-and-bailey castle to be built by the Roman city wall, in the early 12th century, the castle was rebuilt with stone. After the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket at the cathedral in 1170, Canterbury became one of the most notable towns in Europe and this pilgrimage provided the framework for Geoffrey Chaucers 14th-century collection of stories, The Canterbury Tales

3.
Rochester, Kent
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Rochester is a town and historic city in the unitary authority of Medway in Kent, England. It is situated at the lowest bridging point of the River Medway about 30 miles from London, Rochester was for many years a favourite of Charles Dickens, who owned nearby Gads Hill Place, Higham, basing many of his novels on the area. Rochester and its neighbours, Chatham and Gillingham, Strood and a number of outlying villages form a large urban area known as the Medway Towns with a population of about 250,000. These places nowadays make up the Medway Unitary Authority area and it was, until 1998, under the control of Kent County Council and is still part of the ceremonial county of Kent, under the latest Lieutenancies Act. The Romano-British name for Rochester was Durobrivae, later Durobrivis c.730, the two commonly cited origins of this name are that it either came from stronghold by the bridge, or is the latinisation of the British word Dourbruf meaning swiftstream. In later times, the word cæster was added to the name, bede mentions the city in ca.730 and calls it Hrofes cæster, mistaking its meaning as Hrofis fortified camp. From this we get c.730 Hrofæscæstre,811 Hrofescester,1086 Rovescester,1610 Rochester, the Latinised adjective Roffensis refers to Rochester. Neolithic remains have been found in the vicinity of Rochester, over time it has been occupied by Celts, Romans. During the Celtic period it was one of the two centres of the Cantiaci tribe. During the Roman conquest of Britain a decisive battle was fought at the Medway somewhere near Rochester, the first bridge was subsequently constructed early in the Roman period. During the later Roman period the settlement was walled in stone, King Ethelbert of Kent established a legal system which has been preserved in the 12th century Textus Roffensis. In AD604 the bishopric and cathedral were founded, during this period, from the recall of the legions until the Norman conquest, Rochester was sacked at least twice and besieged on another occasion. The medieval period saw the building of the current cathedral, the building of two castles and the establishment of a significant town, Rochester Castle saw action in the sieges of 1215 and 1264. Its basic street plan was set out, constrained by the river, Watling Street, Rochester Priory, the city was raided by the Dutch as part of the Second Anglo-Dutch War. The Dutch, commanded by Admiral de Ruijter, broke through the chain at Upnor and sailed to Rochester Bridge capturing part of the English fleet, Rochester has for centuries been of great strategic importance through its position near the confluence of the Thames and the Medway. Rochester Castle was built to guard the crossing, and the Royal Dockyards establishment at Chatham witnessed the beginning of the Royal Navys long period of supremacy. The town, as part of Medway, is surrounded by two circles of fortresses, the line built during the Napoleonic wars consists of Fort Clarence, Fort Pitt, Fort Amherst. During the Second World War, Shorts also designed and manufactured the first four-engined bomber, Rochester and its neighbouring communities were hit hard by this and have experienced a painful adjustment to a post-industrial economy, with much social deprivation and unemployment resulting

4.
Kent
–
Kent /ˈkɛnt/ is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south west, the county also shares borders with Essex via the Dartford Crossing and the French department of Pas-de-Calais through the Channel Tunnel. France can be clearly in fine weather from Folkestone and the White Cliffs of Dover. Hills in the form of the North Downs and the Greensand Ridge span the length of the county, because of its relative abundance of fruit-growing and hop gardens, Kent is known as The Garden of England. The title was defended in 2006 when a survey of counties by the UKTV Style Gardens channel put Kent in fifth place, behind North Yorkshire, Devon. Haulage, logistics, and tourism are industries, major industries in north-west Kent include aggregate building materials, printing. Coal mining has played its part in Kents industrial heritage. Large parts of Kent are within the London commuter belt and its transport connections to the capital. Twenty-eight per cent of the county forms part of two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the North Downs and The High Weald, the area has been occupied since the Palaeolithic era, as attested by finds from the quarries at Swanscombe. The Medway megaliths were built during the Neolithic era, There is a rich sequence of Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Roman era occupation, as indicated by finds and features such as the Ringlemere gold cup and the Roman villas of the Darent valley. The modern name of Kent is derived from the Brythonic word Cantus meaning rim or border and this describes the eastern part of the current county area as a border land or coastal district. Julius Caesar had described the area as Cantium, or home of the Cantiaci in 51 BC, the extreme west of the modern county was by the time of Roman Britain occupied by Iron Age tribes, known as the Regnenses. East Kent became a kingdom of the Jutes during the 5th century and was known as Cantia from about 730, the early medieval inhabitants of the county were known as the Cantwara, or Kent people. These people regarded the city of Canterbury as their capital, in 597, Pope Gregory I appointed the religious missionary as the first Archbishop of Canterbury. In the previous year, Augustine successfully converted the pagan King Æthelberht of Kent to Christianity, the Diocese of Canterbury became Britains first Episcopal See with first cathedral and has since remained Englands centre of Christianity. The second designated English cathedral was in Kent at Rochester Cathedral, in the 11th century, the people of Kent adopted the motto Invicta, meaning undefeated. This naming followed the invasion of Britain by William of Normandy, the Kent peoples continued resistance against the Normans led to Kents designation as a semi-autonomous county palatine in 1067. Under the nominal rule of Williams half-brother Odo of Bayeux, the county was granted powers to those granted in the areas bordering Wales

5.
Epsom
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Epsom is a market town in Surrey, England,13.6 miles south south-west of London, located between Ashtead and Ewell. The town straddles chalk downland and the upper Thanet Formation, Epsom Downs Racecourse holds The Derby, now a generic name for sports competitions in English-speaking countries. The town also gives its name to Epsom salts, extracted from mineral waters there, Epsom is the source of the Hogsmill River and includes the semi-rural Horton and Langley Vale. Epsom lies within the Copthorne Hundred used for periodic, strategic meetings of the wealthy and powerful in Anglo-Saxon England, the name of Epsom is early recorded as forms of Ebbas ham. Many Spring line settlements by springs in Anglo-Saxon England were founded at the foot of dry valleys such as here and Effingham, Bookham, Cheam, Sutton, Carshalton, Croydon, a relic from this period is a 7th-century brooch found in Epsom and now in the British Museum. Epsom appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Evesham, held by Chertsey Abbey. Its domesday assets were,11 hides,2 churches,2 mills worth 10 shillings,18 ploughs,24 acres of meadow, woodland worth 20 hogs, altogether it rendered £17 per year to its overlords. The town at the time of Domesday Book had 38 households, at various dates in the Middle Ages, manors were founded by subinfeudation at Epsom Court, Horton, Woodcote, Brettgrave and Langley Vale. Under Henry VIII and Queen Mary the manor passed to the Carew then related Darcy families and it passed via the Mynne, Buckle and Parkhurst families to Sir Charles Kemys Tynte and after his death to Sir Joseph Mawbey. By the end of the Georgian period, Epsom was known as a spa town, remnants of this are its water pump and multiple exhibits in the towns museum. There were entertainments at the Assembly Rooms, a green-buffered housing estate has now been built upon the wells in the south-west of the town. Epsom salts are named after the town, Epsom salt was originally prepared by boiling down mineral waters which sprung at Epsom. The towns market is built on the pond that existed in the Middle Ages, within the centuries-old boundaries is Epsom Downs Racecourse which features two of the five English Classic horse races, The Derby and The Oaks, which were first run in 1780 and 1779 respectively. On 4 June 1913, Emily Davison, a militant womens suffrage activist, stepped in front of King George Vs horse running in the Derby, sustaining fatal injuries. Lord Rosebery remained closely associated with the town throughout his life, leaving land to the borough, commemorated in the names of roads, Rosebery Park. A house was named after him at Epsom College, one of Britains public schools in Epsom. A bell was added in 1867, by 1902 the lions had been replaced by lanterns, and the toilet buildings added either side of the tower. The Epsom Playhouse was opened in 1984 and is run by Epsom, the Ashley Centre, a shopping mall, was built in the early 1980s and subsequently parts of the high street were pedestrianised as part of the construction of the towns one-way system

6.
Farnham
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Farnham is a town in Surrey, England, within the Borough of Waverley. The town is 34.5 miles WSW of London in the extreme west of Surrey, by road Guildford is 11 miles to the east and Winchester a further 28 miles along the same axis as London. Farnham is the largest town in Waverley, and one of the five largest conurbations in Surrey and it is of historic interest, with many old buildings, including a number of Georgian houses. A short distance southeast of the centre are the ruins of Waverley Abbey, Moor Park House. Farnham is twinned with Andernach in Germany and it is drained by the River Wey which is navigable only to canoes at this point. The geology of the area continues to influence the town, both in terms of communications, scenic and botanic variety and the local industries of agriculture. Farnham Geological Society is an organisation in the town. Farnham lies in the valley of the North Branch of the River Wey, which rises near Alton, merges with the South Branch at Tilford, the mainly east-west alignment of the ridges and valleys has influenced the development of road and rail communications. The land rises to more than 180 metres above sea level to the north of the town at Caesars Camp which, with the part of the Park. There are a number of holes in the Park where this stratum meets the chalk. Farnham has a maritime climate, free from extreme temperatures, with moderate rainfall. The nearest official weather station to Farnham is Alice Holt Lodge, the highest temperature recorded was 35. 4C, in July 2006. In an average year, the warmest day would reach 29. 1C, the lowest temperature recorded was -14. 0C in February 1986. On average,58.6 nights of the year will register an air frost, annual rainfall averages 799mm, with at least 1mm of rain reported on 122.4 days. All averages refer to the 1971–2000 observation period, there is a Neolithic long barrow at nearby Badshot Lea, now destroyed by quarrying. Occupation of the continued to grow through the Bronze Age. Two bronze hoards have been discovered on Crooksbury Hill, and further artefacts have been found, particularly at sites in Green Lane and near the Bourne spring in Farnham Park. A significant number of Bronze Age barrows occur in the area, including a triple barrow at Elstead, Hill forts from the early Iron Age have been identified locally at Botany Hill to the south of the town, and at Caesars Camp to the north

7.
Surrey
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Surrey is a county in the south east of England. It shares borders with Kent to the east, East Sussex to the south-east, West Sussex to the south, Hampshire to the west and south-west, Surrey County Council sits extraterritorially at Kingston upon Thames, administered as part of Greater London since 1965. With a resident population of 1.1 million, Surrey is the most densely populated and third most populated county in the South East region, after Kent, the London boroughs of Lambeth, Southwark, Wandsworth, and parts of Lewisham and Bromley were in Surrey until 1889. The boroughs of Croydon, Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Sutton and Richmond upon Thames south of the River Thames were part of Surrey until 1965, when they too were absorbed into Greater London. In the same year, the county was extended north of the Thames by the addition of Spelthorne, due to this expansion, modern Surrey also borders on the London boroughs of Hounslow and Hillingdon. It has the highest GDP per capita of any English county, Surrey is divided in two by the chalk ridge of the North Downs, running east-west. To the north of the Downs the land is mostly flat, the geology of this area is dominated by London Clay in the east, Bagshot Sands in the west and alluvial deposits along the rivers. Much of Surrey is in the Metropolitan Green Belt and it contains a good deal of mature woodland. Among its many notable beauty spots are Box Hill, Leith Hill, Frensham Ponds, Newlands Corner and Puttenham & Crooksbury Commons. Surrey is the most wooded county in England, with 22. 4% coverage compared to an average of 11. 8%. Box Hill has the oldest untouched area of woodland in the UK. Surrey also contains Englands principal concentration of lowland heath, on soils in the west of the county. Agriculture not being intensive, there are many commons and access lands, together with a network of footpaths and bridleways including the North Downs Way. Accordingly, Surrey provides much in the way of leisure activities. The highest elevation in Surrey is Leith Hill near Dorking and it is either 293,294 or 295 metres above sea level and is the second highest point in southeastern England after Walbury Hill 297 metres in West Berkshire. Surrey has a population of approximately 1.1 million people and its largest town is Guildford, with a population of 66,773, Woking comes a close second with 62,796. They are followed by Ewell with 39,994 people and Camberley with 30,155, towns of between 25,000 and 30,000 inhabitants are Ashford, Epsom, Farnham, Staines and Redhill. Guildford is the county town, although the county administration was moved to Newington in 1791

8.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years

9.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state‍—‌the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government

10.
MidKent College
–
MidKent College is a further education college in Kent, England. It runs courses from two campuses in Maidstone and Medway, including a number of higher education courses. There are approximately 8,500 students aged 16 years and upwards enrolled at the college, courses offered range from pre-entry level to degree level and cover a wide range of vocational and academic subject areas. The college has two campuses, the Medway Campus in Gillingham and the Maidstone Campus. In September 2009 all courses at the old sites of the Horsted Centre in Chatham, the new campus, which received more than £40 million of Learning and Skills Council funding, cost a total of £86million. It offers training facilities in a range of areas including construction, performing arts, music. The Medway Campus was officially opened by The Princess Royal on Thursday 25 March 2010, in late 2012 work started on a £22 million refurbishment of the Maidstone Campus to bring its facilities up to the standard of the Medway Campus. In 2014 both City Way and Horsted centres were demolished, the college has been delivering vocational education in Medway and Maidstone for nearly 100 years. Its roots lie in the institutes established within the Medway towns in the 1890s. The college first began delivering courses from the Horsted Centre in Chatham in 1954, the site was opened as Medway College of Technology by the Duke of Edinburgh on 5 April the following year. Medway College of Technology and Maidstone Technical College amalgamated in 1966 to become Medway, the purpose-built City Way site in Rochester was subsequently opened as an additional college site in 1968. Throughout the 1950s, 60s and 70s, the students were famed for their Rag Day parade. This saw them conducting a carnival procession through the Medway Towns, the parade started at Gillingham train station and ended at the esplanade in Rochester. Each year the students elected their own Rag Day Queen to head the procession, the current principal of MidKent College is Simon Cook, who has held the position since July 2014 after the sad death of principal Sue McLeod. The mother-of-one had previously worked across the Caribbean, United States and Europe during her time in the travel industry, in 2014 Sue McLeod was diagnosed with a brain tumour. The current chief executive of MidKent College is Simon Cook, who has held the position since the retirement of previous CEO, Stephen Grix, in July 2016. Mr Grix first joined the College in 1971 when, having left school at age 15 with no formal qualifications, after 13 years in the trade he returned to study an education degree, followed by a masters degree in education management. The father-of-three eventually went on to become principal of Sir George Monoux College in Walthamstow, north-east London, next was a role as director of education for the London borough of Tower Hamlets before Mr Grix returned to MidKent College as principal and chief executive in March 2005

11.
Folkestone
–
Folkestone /ˈfoʊkstən/ is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20th centuries, there has been a settlement in this location since the Mesolithic era. A nunnery was founded by Eanswith, daughter of Æthelberht of Kent in the 7th century, the harbours use has diminished since the opening of the nearby Channel Tunnel and stopping of local ferry services, but still remains in active use. The area of Folkestone has been occupied since at least the Mesolithic era, in 2010, worked flints were discovered below the remains of the Folkestone Roman Villa. The East Cliff area was excavated in 1924 and most recently from 2010 -2011, on the East Cliff, an extensive Iron Age oppidum existed, which produced quern-stones on an almost industrial scale. These querns, or stones used for grinding cereals into flour, were traded for continental exports such as pottery, a modest Roman style villa was constructed over the Iron Age settlement sometime during the first century AD, followed by a more luxurious one in about 200 AD. The villa was abandoned sometime during the third or fourth century for unknown reasons, in 597 AD, monks led by St Augustine arrived at Ebbsfleet on the Isle of Thanet, on a mission from Pope Gregory to re-Christianise Britain. He was greeted by the Anglo Saxon pagan King of Kent, Ethelbert and his Christian Queen, Augustine was granted land in Canterbury where he built his church and outside the walls founded the monastery of St Peter & St Paul - now known as St Augustines. Ethelbert was succeeded as Anglo-Saxon king of Kent by his son Eadbald, in 630 AD, Eanswythe founded a nunnery on the site of her fathers castle near Folkestone by the present parish Church of St Mary & St Eanswythe. Eanswythe died c 640 AD and was made a saint. Her remains were moved into the chancel of the current church in the 12th century and they became the focus of prayer and pilgrimage such that Eanswythe was quickly adopted as the towns patron. The community grew and developed into a monastery until it was dissolved by Henry VIII and they were rediscovered in June 1885 when workmen, carrying out alterations to the high altar, found a battered lead casket immured in a niche in the north wall of the chancel. Examination by archaeologists at the time and again in 1981 confirmed that the casket was of Anglo-Saxon origin and these relics are still housed in the church close to where they were discovered in the north wall of the chancel flanked by a pair of small brass candlesticks. St Eanswythe is celebrated on 12 September each year - the date on which her relics were moved to the present chancel and she also appears on the towns seal with William Harvey, the Folkestone-born, 17th-century physician who discovered the circulation of the blood. A Norman knight held a Barony of Folkestone, which led to its entry as a part of the Cinque Ports in the thirteenth century, at the start of the Tudor period it had become a town in its own right. Wars with France meant that defences had to be built here, at the beginning of the 1800s a harbour was developed, but it was the coming of the railways in 1843 that would have the bigger impact. Until the 19th century Folkestone remained a fishing community with a seafront that was continually battered by storms

12.
Maidstone
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Maidstone is the county town of Kent, England,32 miles south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, linking it with Rochester, historically, the river was a source and route for much of the towns trade as the centre of the agricultural county of Kent, known as the Garden of England. There is evidence of a settlement in the area dating back to before the Stone Age, the town is in the borough of Maidstone. In 2011, the town had a population of 113,137, maidstones economy has changed over the years from being involved in heavy industry, to more light industry and service industries. Saxon charters show the first recorded instances of the name, de maeides stana and maegdan stane. The latter meaning may refer to the nearby megalith around which took place. The name evolved through medestan/meddestane in the Domesday Book with possible variation Mayndenstan, the modern name appeared by 1610. It has been suggested that the name derives from stones set into the river to allow clothes to be rinsed in the water away from the banks. Neolithic finds have revealed the earliest occupation of the area, the Normans set up a shire moot, and religious organisations established an abbey at Boxley, hospitals and a college for priests. Today’s suburb of Penenden Heath was a place of execution in medieval times, maidstones charter as a town was granted in 1549, although briefly revoked, a new charter in 1551 created the town as a borough. The charter was ratified in 1619 under James I, and the coat of arms was designed, bearing a golden lion, recently to these arms were added the head of a white horse, a golden lion and an iguanodon. The iguanodon relates to the discovery in the 19th century of the remains of that dinosaur. Maidstone has had the right to a town gaol since 1604, during the English Civil War, the Battle of Maidstone took place in 1648, resulting in a victory for the Parliamentarians. Paper mills, stone quarrying, brewing and the industry have all flourished here. The paper maker James Whatman and his son invented wove paper at Turkey Mill from 1740, a permanent military presence was established in the town with the completion of cavalry barracks in 1798. Invicta Park Barracks is now home to the 36 Engineer Regiment, Maidstone Prison is north of the town centre and was completed in 1819. Modern Maidstone incorporates a number of outlying villages and settlements, the county council offices to the north of the town centre were built of Portland stone between 1910 and 1913. On 29 September 1975 a local pub serving Invicta Park Barracks, The Hare, Maidstone General Hospital opened on the outskirts of the town in 1983, replacing West Kent General Hospital, which opened 150 years earlier in Marsham Street